Chapter 481 Late Night Love
After Mozi's death, the Mohist school split into three parts due to different philosophies.

Among them, the Mohist school that entered Qin was called Qin Mohism. Because it was headed by Xiangli Qin, it was also called Xiangli's Mohism.

This school focuses on research and is very pragmatic.

The reason for helping Qin was that they could see that among the seven countries, only Qin's system was closest to their ultimate vision of the world, so they were willing to help Qin wage war.

Cheng Jiao could only sigh that the fact that Qin was able to win the favor of Xiangli clan could only mean that among the seven countries, Qin was still okay as a whole.

Although the Mohist school was divided into three parts, they did not hate or be hostile to each other; they just had different philosophies.

Therefore, a few months ago, when Old Man Ban came with Cheng Jiao's token and order, Qin Mo, who lived in Xianyang, directly assigned dozens of disciples to Old Man Ban.

At this time, in a large courtyard inside the academy, hundreds of people were busy working, and dozens of ancient assembly lines built with mechanical technology were running.

However, the failure rate was quite high. During Cheng Jiao's inspection accompanied by Old Man Ban, three machines broke down in just over an hour. Fortunately, there were Mohist disciples present, who were able to repair and operate them quickly.

"Master Ban, is this the only mechanical technique of your Mohist school?"

Old Man Ban rubbed his hands and said, "Master Cheng Jiao, there is no other way. If we want to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the papermaking machinery and we want the production capacity you mentioned, we can only add more production lines as you mentioned."

Cheng Jiao touched the slightly yellowed paper. It was already very good to be able to achieve this level in just a few months.

As far as I can remember, the efficiency was probably not so high during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the paper produced was quite good.

“How much did it cost?”

Cheng Jiao asked the question that concerned him most.

Old Man Ban scratched his head and said with a smile, "Not much, just over 30,000 gold coins."

Yan Fei behind Cheng Jiao said expressionlessly: "A total of 38,760 gold coins."

Old Man Ban coughed and said, "Master Dongjun has a really good memory."

Yan Fei said calmly: "Ah Li has always kept accounts."

Cheng Jiao's mouth twitched slightly, "Master Ban, didn't you say that a few thousand gold coins would be enough?"

Old Man Ban said as a matter of course: "The first batch of papermaking machinery did indeed only cost 5,000 gold coins. This is the second generation of papermaking machinery after iteration and update. The printing machinery requested by the young master has also been arranged. The Zhu Xian that Miss Yan Fei requested to print is the finished product."

Cheng Jiao thought to himself that it was fortunate that he had extorted a large sum of money from Wei Guo and Guo Kai. If he had continued to build it as old man Ban had done, he would not have been able to afford it.

Ali reported last night that there were a total of 470,000 gold coins. Excluding the money used for the construction of the academy, the production of papermaking and printing machinery, and the money mobilized by Li Si, there were still more than 330,000 gold coins.

A smile appeared on Yan Fei's cold and beautiful face: "Sir, this is written by the sisters in the mansion together. In another month or two, "Zhu Xian" will become popular in Qin State."

Cheng Jiao said helplessly: "Why do you have to write my name?"

He just told it as a story to Yan Fei and Jing Wei, and never thought that Yan Fei would unite the women in the mansion and publish the book together.

Books with over a million words were rare, not to mention in the Warring States Period, even in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Yan Fei said as a matter of course: "It was the young master who said it, so of course it belongs to the young master."

Cheng Jiao did not say anything more on this topic. He glanced at the copy of Zhu Xian on the table, which had his name and introduction written on it, as well as the three words "novelist" added thoughtfully. Cheng Jiao shook his head helplessly.

Wow, I didn’t expect that he could be considered one of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Cheng Jiao took Yan Fei away from here and visited the academy that was under construction.

As the saying goes, money can make the world go round.

Thanks to his financial offensive, the Xianyang Academy, which was only one-third smaller than the Xianyang Royal Palace, was halfway completed.

If we follow the normal practice, we must first apply for budget allocation from the imperial court, and also consider whether there is a surplus in the treasury. It would take step by step to build the Xianyang Academy, at least five or six years, or at most more than ten years.

Li Si hurried over and saluted when he saw Cheng Jiao: "Li Si greets Lord Chang'an."

He was originally planning to plot against Lu Buwei in Lu Buwei's mansion, but unexpectedly, he was rescued by Yanri and Xuan Jian not long after Cheng Jiao left.

It was said that Jingwei was ordered by the young master to supervise the construction of the academy and organize the texts, and he was also given more than a dozen large boxes of gold coins, roughly estimated to be at least 50,000 coins.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth and start building civil engineering projects in Xianyang city under the name of Cheng Jiao.

Fortunately, thanks to the magical mechanical devices of Gongshu Jia and Mo Jia, he was able to build the academy in a few months. He also had some time to gather dozens of learned people to simplify the large seal script day and night and form a unified small seal script.

Different from the linear nature of the large seal script, the small seal script focuses on planning the strokes so that the lines are of uniform thickness and straight in both horizontal and vertical directions.

Cheng Jiao asked Li Si a few questions and took some small seal scripts that Li Si brought.

Looking at the familiar Chinese characters on the cloth, he nodded with satisfaction.

Although the shape is slightly long like a rectangle, compared with the large seal script and the characters of the other six countries, it is already extremely concise and vivid. The character structure is more integrated and gradually moves away from the circle of the picture.

"You did well."

Li Si felt a little relieved when he heard Cheng Jiao's praise.

"It's all thanks to your guidance, otherwise, Li Si wouldn't have known where to start."

This sentence is not to flatter Cheng Jiao, but if Cheng Jiao had not stated some basic conditions at the beginning, he might not have known where to start. Just those casual strokes, the seven-character mantra of horizontal, vertical, downward, hook, dot and fold, made him admire Cheng Jiao's ingenious ideas.

I'm afraid that even if Cangjie were still alive, it would be no more than this.

Cheng Jiao then asked, "Have you arranged for the teachers and students in the academy?"

"There is no shortage of students, but this teacher..."

Li Si said with some distress: "Since Qi State founded the Jixia Academy, it has flourished but has gradually declined, so that the various schools of thought have lost interest in the academy. I promised a large sum of money, and after the king's approval, I followed the example of King Wei of Qi to appoint talented people as officials, but the effect is still minimal. Those people of the various schools of thought who have real talents and knowledge don't care at all."

Yan Fei beside Cheng Jiao immediately said: "I am Dong Jun of the Yin-Yang family. I can hold a concurrent position in the academy."

Li Si just smiled and didn't dare to say anything more.

The Yin-Yang School has a bad reputation among the various schools of thought, and joining the academy may have a counterproductive effect.

This is also the reason why he did not invite the Yin-Yang family before.

Cheng Jiao pondered for a moment. The academy was the key to whether he could destroy the six kingdoms within three years without causing unrest. It was also crucial to whether he could train a large number of basic management talents.

"Li Si, put the previous plan aside for now. After the academy, everything will focus on training officials. At least in one year, we should be able to train more than a thousand people who can handle basic government affairs and manage local affairs."

Generals are important, and soldiers are equally important. Similarly, the internal historians and county governors are important, but the grassroots officials are more important.

Although he was not sure whether the world was not unified and collecting the seven bronze treasure boxes in advance would lead to a backlash of luck as Donghuang Taiyi said, he would not gamble on it.

For him, it would be very easy to destroy the six countries if he gave his full support.

But the remaining mess, no matter how strong he is, is difficult to stabilize. He can only consider not letting the mess get so bad in advance.

Li Si was a little surprised, but responded politely.

For him, it doesn’t matter what kind of talents he cultivates; what matters is completing the tasks assigned to him by Cheng Jiao.

"Lord Chang'an, in this case, we don't really need people from all schools of thought. It's just that the training of officials..." Cheng Jiao said calmly, "There are many officials in the court. You can find someone who is suitable and let him come to serve as a teacher in the academy."

Li Si said helplessly: "Lord Chang'an, most of the officials in the court are involved with Prime Minister Lu. It's not a good idea for us to do this, right?"

Cheng Jiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister Lu won't interfere. I will let him come to the academy to help you when he has time."

Li Si was shocked and said in disbelief: "Sir, could it be that Lu Buwei..."

Cheng Jiao nodded: "Yes, Lu Buwei has compromised."

Li Si said with some uneasiness: "Sir, Lü Buwei has always been cautious and cunning. You must not believe what he says."

"No problem. He has already paid the price and put forward the conditions."

"What conditions?"

Cheng Jiao glanced at Yan Fei, shook his head and smiled, "It's hard to say."

He couldn't tell Li Si that Lu Buwei was planning to marry his daughter to him.

The matter was a bit mysterious and he didn't want to spread it.

In order to change the subject, Cheng Jiao asked casually, "Brother Wang, have you appointed the chief priest of the academy?"

Li Si showed a strange expression: "It's settled."

Looking at Li Si's expression, Cheng Jiao had a bad feeling.

"It won't be this young master, will it?"

He now doesn't want to get involved in things any more. If the unification of the seven kingdoms wasn't related to his life, he would have planned to retire early, return to his mansion to practice in peace, and have babies with the beauties.

"That was indeed the king's original intention. The queen mother happened to pass by and said that the palace was boring and she wanted to move to another place, so she asked for a chief priest of the academy. The king then arranged for his subordinates to assist the queen mother."

Li Si briefly explained the whole process, which put Cheng Jiao at ease.

There is no difference between Zhao Ji being the chief priest and him being the chief priest. Just think of Zhao Ji as the one who does the work...

"Well, thank you for your help."

Just as Cheng Jiao finished speaking, a loud noise suddenly came from the distance.

Li Si quickly explained: "That was Gongshujia testing gunpowder. The improvement method proposed by you has greatly inspired Gongshujia. Soon, Qin will have another powerful weapon."

Cheng Jiao suddenly realized, and inexplicably thought of the original novel in which Wang Li surrounded Daze Mountain and used the Hundred Battles Divine Crossbow made by Gongshu Jia. The effect was comparable to modern weapons such as rocket launchers.

I think Gongshujia is also a gunpowder player.

Li Si saw that Cheng Jiao was in high spirits and suggested, "Sir, do you want to go over there and take a look?"

Cheng Jiao glanced at the sky and said, "It's getting late, so I won't go to see it. I believe in Gong Shujia's ability and can make something that satisfies me."

Li Si saw that it was almost evening and it was not a good idea to ask for more.

He took the initiative to lead the way and sent Cheng Jiao onto the carriage and out of the academy.

After Cheng Jiao left, Li Si looked at the academy which was still under construction, and suddenly he came to his senses.

Cheng Jiao suddenly asked him to quickly train grassroots officials. Does this mean that he will take action against South Korea and other countries in the near future?

Thinking of this, Li Si suddenly became excited. If this was true, then the talents trained by him would surely be able to advance smoothly in officialdom, and might even help him become the prime minister.

By the time Cheng Jiao returned home, it was already getting late.

Then I thought of Xiaoyi and Ehuang and Nuying's personal problems that had not been resolved.

"Yan Fei, call Xiao Yi and Madam Xiang over. I will help them deal with this."

While on the road today, he took some time to look for a solution to the loss of soul in the Yin-Yang Longevity Method.

I found several, you can try them first.

Yan Fei said faintly: "What are you in such a hurry for?"

Cheng Jiao was stunned, and looking at Yan Fei's affectionate eyes, he couldn't help but laugh.

"No hurry, no hurry."

Holding Yan Fei's soft waist, he chuckled and said, "I've made you run with me all day today, why don't we take a rest early."

Yan Fei's face flushed, and she was quite excited that Cheng Jiao could understand her thoughts.

"Of course, I'm very tired. Let's go back to the house quickly."

Cheng Jiao certainly didn't mind postponing the matter of Xiaoyi and Madam Xiang. Facing Yan Fei, who had been waiting for him for several months and helping him take care of the trivial matters in the mansion, it would be unmanly for him to say that he would do nothing.

He picked up the shy Yan Fei and went straight to the inner room.

It was already dark, and the candles quietly illuminated the room.

Yan Fei, who was lying on the couch, placed her little head on Cheng Jiao's chest and whispered, "Cheng Jiao, I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, do you know that?"

Cheng Jiao took off the jewelry on Yan Fei's hair bun and said, "I know, thank you for your hard work."

Listening to Cheng Jiao's heartbeat, Yan Fei, who had always been cold and beautiful, smiled softly, and her smile was quite bright under the candlelight.

"It's not hard, as long as you treat me better and don't abandon me just because Jingwei and the others are born."

At this point, Yan Fei sighed softly. She was originally quite concerned about the fact that Cheng Jiao had Jing Wei, but later she accepted it. Then she discovered that Cheng Jiao had other women. After knowing the reasons, she gradually accepted it.

However, when Cheng Jiao came back this time, there were more than a dozen women in the courtyard out of nowhere, including the princess of Zhao State, doctors, and especially several female elders of the Yin-Yang School, which made her laugh and cry.

But she had come to this point, so what was the way out? In addition, she was reluctant to let Cheng Jiao go, so even though Cheng Jiao did this, she still gave in.

And just now, when Cheng Jiao asked her to call Xiaoyi and Madam Xiang, she immediately became alert.

She could feel Cheng Jiao's love for her, but Cheng Jiao seemed a little slow.

This made her take the initiative to speak up and want to stop Cheng Jiao by herself.

Fortunately, the result was good. Cheng Jiao really liked her and brought her to the inner room without hesitation.

For a moment, Yan Fei looked at Cheng Jiao in a daze.

Cheng Jiao gently stroked Yan Fei's jade back, "What nonsense are you talking about? You are all the people I care about the most. I want to live forever with you and accompany you forever."

Yan Fei hugged Cheng Jiao's neck and looked into his eyes. "I don't ask for immortality, I just want to be with you for the rest of my life."

Cheng Jiao gently kissed Yan Fei's red lips. At this moment and in this scene, there was no point in saying more.

The night is getting darker...

(End of this chapter)